Developmental Events Flashcards
What is there under-attribution too?
Changes that are likely the result of development, but that are interpreted as resulting from experience
e.g., RG, stranger fear
What is there over-attribution to?
The assumption that there are dog counterparts to constructs in human development such as adolescence.
Does a fearful animal always require a dramatic explanation
No! It’s easily installed! It COULD be from a bad experience.
What assumption do people sometimes make about RG
They came from a background of scarcity!
It’s a genetic program the switch is flipped at a certain age.
What is a critical period?
Time envelope during development where certain, key experiences are required. The brain is ripe when it’s finished - game over!
What is the current best hypothesis about the critical period?
Experiences are triggering/coordinating gene expression, which in turn influence brain architecture in ways that cannot be done at other times.
What is a critical period in dog training?
Socialisation
What is one of the most studied critical periods?
Development of song in sparrows
Scenario - take San Fransico Genes (sparrows) and rear in Hong Kong (hearing Hong Kong song) age 10-50 days.
What happens if the adult lives in London as an adult? What does he sing?
Sings Hong Kong Sparrow song
What does the Sparrow Development Experiments show?
The song isn’t dictated by your genes
The adult environment isn’t dictated by your genes
Song is determined by the song you hear between ages 10-50 days = critical period!
What happens if the sparrow lives in London long enough?
He gets a little London Vibe but still sings Hong Kong song!
If there is an event in the critical period is it fixed or plastic?
There is a little plasticity, it isn’t completely carved in stone.
What is a sensitive period?
A period where a little goes a long way (bang for buck effect)
Both a little good and a little bad go a long way!
Why are sensitive periods important to us?
There is a lot at stake if we miss the boat or there is a bad experience. Puppyhood is precious we need to get certain things accomplished and that he doesn’t have bad experiences.
What is the ethology meaning of imprinting?
Hard-wired cataloguing of features that represent a parent of mate
What period does imprinting fall in?
Critical period!
What types of imprinting are there?
Parental and sexual
What does imprinting not mean?
Bonding, social connection
When is the socialisation period in dogs?
3 weeks (21 days) - 12/18 weeks
How do we know when the socialisation period is?
Experiments based on extreme omission resulting in profound fear
Why can’t we determine when the socialisation period ends?
We cannot replicate the experiments in today’s world because it is unethical
What is the socialisation period?
A very sensitive, possibly critical period. we don’t have the exact answers
What are neonatal puppies?
v young pups - 21 days.
Are puppies completely deaf when they are neonatal?
No! They are closed/muffled. We also can’t read any reaction as pups don’t have the ability to show us much at this v young age.
What do we know about the socialisation period?
Its either a sensitive or critical period
The earlier the better!
What was not conclusive about the extreme omission in the socialisation period
Whether the extreme fear could be reversed with subsequent efforts
What 4 tasks are critical in puppies - before 12 weeks
Bite inhibition - you can’t soften up the mouth later on
Socialisation to people
Socialisation to dogs
Tolerance of novelty
What are the sensitive tasks in pups? Before 12 weeks?
Body handling
RG modification/prevention
Obedience?
Problem-solving?
Does early prevention of RG issues have a positive effect later in life?
No one knows! majority says prevention does help. you never get a false negative I,e. if a dog doesn’t RG is that because they don’t have the software or was it the prevention exercises?
Which 2 tasks is JD on the fence about “essential” tasks in the socialization period?
Obedience
Problem solving
Do we want good problem solvers?
?! the jury is out!!!
Why is it difficult to find out which tasks in the sensitive period are lore and which are true?
Ethics!
What prognostic indicators are there - more difficult
Hard mouth
Poor client compliance
Strangers
Explosive/no threat
Larger dog
Refractory - poor curve
What is a prognostic indicator?
The likelihood of a good or bad outcome in aggression and fear cases
What are the prognostic indicators - less difficult
Soft mouth
Committed/compliant client
Food guarding
Protracted warnings
Smaller dog
Plastic dog - good learning
What is a bigger dog???
> 30ibs
Are the mouth and size of dog linked?
No, these are independent. Larger dog with the same mouth as a smaller dog, the smaller dog had the better prognosis. This could be because of human perspective of a smaller dog vs a larger dog.
Which 2 things on the prognosis indicators are established/influenced during the critical period of socialisation in dogs?
Hard mouth - bit inhibition
Strangers socialisation
Can we improve aggression prognosis in the critical period
yes, we can influence and socialise to strangers and teach bite inhibition. We should highlight these in puppy classes.
What should we prioritise in pups
Bite inhibition
Socialisation to strangers
What happens between ages 1 and 3 in most dogs?
Dog tolerance to play changes
they may:
1) Play less and less overall
2) Become increasingly selective about whom they play with
3) Become less tolerant of forward behaviour in other dogs
Can we normalise less tolerance of “forward” behaviour in other dogs?
Yes!
Do we want to manage or modify normal beahviour
yes sometimes!
What sort of sound shyness is most sound sensitivity?
Primary sound sensitivity - they are sensitive to the sound itself. That sound is the aversive. it isn’t associated with something else.
What is a secondary sound sensitivity
A -CER to a certain sound because it coincided with some other event. E.g. CC to fear a sound!
Why can primary sound sensitivity sometimes look like secondary sound sensitivity?
It’s like an allergy, exposure to the allergen, or the sound, brings out the allergy or sound sensitivity.
E.g., multiple sensitization exposures which make it seem like a non-genetic origin.
It’s an example of genes interacting with the environment.
Are genetic behaviours more difficult to desensitise
No it depends on the behaviour
What is a feature of a black Russian terrier?
Slow maturing, very spooky
At what age do social fears usually come on?
between ages 1 - 3, gradually
Do spooky dogs/breeds present as normal puppies?
Yes! often they do
Which type of dog should we prioritise socialisation for social fears
Spooky dogs.
Is social fears onset abrupt?
No! It can seem abrupt because the first big-ticket display is labelled as the onset. But it will gradually come on and then plateau.
Is social fear ever to do with a local event
Yes! But we can superstitiously label it as “because of” when it’s actually genetics. We need to be careful.
What is “gameness” in a dog?
Really wants to fight. V hard to get him to stop
What are the two presentations of gameness?
Early onset
Late onset
When do we see late onset in gameness
between ages 1 - 3 regardless of socialisation efforts
What do we see with early onset gameness?
Very scrappy in litters, scars, injuries sometimes need to be separated from litter mates .
What would we advise someone who wants to adopt a dog breed known to be game?
Adopt after age 3 with no dog dog aggression history. Should be a known player.
When is female housemate agg likelty to appear?
Younger of the 2 females reaching ages 1 - 3
What do you see in female housemate agg?
Trend towards more injurious fights, often with minimal or fuzzy antecedent (trigger)
What can happen in female housemate agg in regards to abi?
Dogs who prev. had good mouths getting more and more injurious fights
What are the options for female housemate agg?
Management.
Why is mgmt the option for female housemate agg?
The stakes of injury are high
Impossible to achieve 100% with b-mod we cannot risk another fight.
Mgmt or placement of one dog is the best solution.
Are female housemate agg dogs normally game?
no! they can sometimes live with friendly males and are fine on street!
Is female housemate agg common?
no lots of female dogs live happily together
